Echoes from Below

3:00 a.m.

Insomnia gnawed at my nerves like a rusted saw, grinding back and forth mercilessly.

On a whim that I couldn't explain, I opened a radio app called "Echoes from Below."

The interface was simple and bare. Black background, blue text.

No ads, no host introduction. Just a single audio waveform, slowly buffering on the screen. The shape of the waveform felt wrong.

It didn't look like soundwaves at all. More like rows of sharp, interlocking teeth.

A pop-up window appeared in the center of the screen.

[Listening Guidelines]

The letters glowed blue, carrying an unsettling eeriness.

[This station's signal may extend into dreams. If you hear the broadcast while dreaming, firmly believe that you are awake.]

Online sales tactics were getting out of hand.

Extending into dreams?

If they could extend the repayment of my bank loans, that would be better.

I snickered and continued scrolling down.

[If you experience dampness behind your ears and detect the smell of seawater, please shut off your device immediately and place it in direct sunlight for a minimum of three hours.]

That was even more absurd.

My phone spraying seawater?

I flipped to the side and fluffed my pillow.

The final guideline was written in a jarring red font.

[On rare occasions, the station will transmit the Predator's Song. When this occurs, remain completely still and hold your breath until the broadcast concludes.]

Hold my breath? Were they trying to asphyxiate me?

I pouted and clicked on [I Agree and Start Listening.]

The so-called 'Echoes from Below' were nothing more than just some white noise, like the wind moving through an empty corridor or a massive creature slowly exhaling beneath the water.

Rumble.

The sound was low and heavy, with a faint electrical hiss like a bad microphone feed.

My eyelids grew heavier as I listened. There was something hypnotic about it, like a pair of cold hands gently caressing the back of my head.

I was starting to drift into slumber. Just when I was about to head into dreamland, I heard a piercing shriek in my headphones.

I woke up alarmed, my heart thumping wildly.

My phone's screen was still lit, and the application was still running.

That was not white noise. It was a sigh in a single breath, whispering against my eardrum.

I took off my headphones and swore.

"What stupid thing is this?"

That was when I felt a cool touch on the back of my neck. I reached behind and touched.

It was wet, sticky, and cold.

I sniffed my fingers.

The stench hit me like a punch. It was overwhelming and rancid like a fish left to rot on the beach for three days.

I was stunned.

The air conditioner was set to room temperature with the dehumidifier mode on.

Where did the water come from?

I subconsciously looked at my phone. The Listening Guidelines popped up once more. The red words seemed to be floating.

[Please switch off your device immediately and place it under the sun for three hours.]

It was three in the morning. Where was I going to get sunlight from?

I felt a chill run down my back. With trembling fingers, I tried to switch my phone off, but it would not budge. The screen would not respond.

The blue waveform was gradually getting more and more violent. The initially calm blue waveform had turned into jagged teeth, as if it were opening its mouth wide.

Although there was no sound coming from the headphones, the app felt like it was screaming all the same.

I immediately threw my phone on the couch in the living room and returned to the bedroom, hiding under the covers.

I had to be hallucinating. It must be because I have been working late recently. I was burned out.

I forced myself to close my eyes.

In the darkness, my hearing sharpened.

The living room was silent.

No. There was a sound.

Drip, drip.

It was like water dripping onto the floor rhythmically. It was slowly approaching my bedroom step by step.

That night, I had an impossibly vivid dream. In my dreams, I was still in my room, except that my room was flooded with murky green water, thick with drifting sediment.

I floated in midair, surrounded by furniture that felt both familiar and wrong.

The wardrobe doors hung open. Clothes swayed inside like strands of seaweed.

I should have drowned. Instead, I was breathing easily.

My chest felt different. It was as if something inside it was opening and closing.

I looked down and saw slits that had split open along both sides of my ribcage. They pulsed greedily, filtering the seawater.

Gills.

Horror instantly flooded my senses. I wanted to scream, but all that came out was bubbles.

Right at that moment, I heard a song in the distance.